When Roger West first launched the progressive political blog "News From The Other Side" in May 2010, he could hardly have predicted the impact that his venture would have on the media and political debate. As the New Media emerged as a counterbalance to established media sources, Roger wrote his copious blogs about national politics, the tea party movement, mid-term elections, and the failings of the radical right to the vanguard of the New Media movement. Roger West's efforts as a leading blogger have tremendous reach. NFTOS has led the effort to bring accountability to mainstream media sources such as FOX NEWS, Breitbart's "Big Journalism.
Roger's breadth of experience, engaging style, and cultivation of loyal readership - over 92 million visitors - give him unique insight into the past, present, and future of the New Media and political rhetoric that exists in our society today.
What we are against:
Radical Right Wing Agendas
Incompetent Establishment
Donald J. Trump
Corporate Malfeasence
We are for:
Global and Econmoic Security
Social and Economic Justice
Media Accountability
THE RESISTANCE
Tuesday, Governor Ultrasound Bob McDonnell apologized for bringing embarrassment to his state by accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts and about $120,000 in loans from a controversial tobacco executive. But though his actions are the subject of a federal grand jury and a state investigation, cable news largely ignored this story — opting instead to focus on the sex life of former Congressman and New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner (D).
Reports emerged Tuesday afternoon that Weiner had shared additional explicit conversations and photos after his 2011 resignation from Congress. Cable news channels reported this news repeatedly throughout the day. At 5:37pm Eastern time, CNN and MSNBC went live to Weiner’s press conference about the matter, while Fox News showed footage of Weiner’s remarks as The Five criticized his behavior. In total, more than 90 segments on cable news channels focused on Weiner and the his sex life between noon and midnight on Tuesday (according to the subscription-only TV Eyes Media Monitoring Suite). The news was heavily regurgitated throughout the evening on those channels, as well as Current TV, Fox Business Channel and HLN.
Just two cable news segments covered McDonnell’s statement: MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and Fox News Channel’s Special Report With Bret Baier. MSNBC’s Maddow began her Tuesday broadcast noting the two scandals and the media’s disparate coverage, observing, “Here, I thought the Bob McDonnell news was going to be the big political scandal news of the day.” She then joked that McDonnell owed Weiner a thank-you note, proposing a post-script of, “Please save the next pictures-of-your-genitals publication date for day I resign from office. Yours truly, Governor Bob.”
McDonnell currently represents the nation’s 12th-largest state, with more than eight million people. He and his family personally helped Star Scientific CEO Jonnie R. Williams Sr. market his scientifically-unproven nutritional supplements and he reportedly arranged a meeting for Williams with Virginia’s health secretary. In turn, Williams loaned the McDonnells money, paid $15,000 for the costs of their daughter’s wedding, and bought Mrs. McDonnell a $6,500 Rolex watch so she could give it as a gift to her husband the governor.
Weiner, who currently represents zero people, has been accused to no legal wrongdoing whatsoever.
If Anthony Wiener actually slept with one of the six women he is accused of sexting with, would Republicans had given him a standing ovation like they did David Vitter?
I haven’t said much of anything about Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D-N.Y.) two week-long controversy, in large part because I’m having trouble figuring out why so many are jumping the "ax" Weiner campaign. Many politicians before him have done far worse and yet they did reside or still do reside in congress. Hell, Ted Kennedy got drunk and killed a woman in his car and the country embodied and revered him as a God.
If David Vitter could beat a prostitution rap and continue to pimp himself as a "family values" candidate and still manage to get his rashy rear reelected in a red state, Weiner should be able to keep himself in his seat.
Jiminy Crickets, David Vitter wore diapers around and had sex with prostitutes, but faced no prosecution or professional punishment.
As congressional scandals go, sending dirty pictures online is fairly tame. Republican senators David Vitter and Larry Craig survived immediate calls for resignation after getting caught going way beyond cyber sex. Rep. Anthony Weiner was dumb, for sure, but if that's a crime who would be left on Capitol Hill? Plenty of politicians kept office despite doing worse things than this.
According to a survey of 500 New York City registered voters conducted by New York 1 and Marist College, only 30 percent say Weiner should resign. 51 percent of respondents said he should stay in his position and 18 percent said they were not sure. “It’s worth keeping in mind that New York is overwhelmingly Democratic. Partisanship can run high in this town. Moral outrage, maybe less so,” said ABC News pollster Gary Langer of Langer Research Associates. – Anthony Weiner: Poll Finds Majority of New York Voters Think He Should Not Resign
The long list of right wing sexual scandels include: Chris Lee, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and John Ensign — but let’s also not forget Mark Sanford, Jim Gibbons, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and others.
Quoting NFTOS Editor-in-Chief Roger West, "Whenever Republicans are calling for a strong Democrat to resign over a sex scandal, that’s the moment people should wake up and smell the heaping pile of hypocrisy."
Now the Right is fundraising on Weinergate. Are you getting it yet? It’s just too bad Democrats won’t turn it around and do the same on Vitter.
Ed Schultz was embarrassed when his own instant phone poll illustrated that over 70% of his own viewers say Weiner shouldn’t resign.
If the late Sen. Ted Kennedy can redeem himself to such glory there is no reason whatsoever why Rep. Anthony Weiner can’t continue driving his adversaries crazy in Congress.
There lies the reason Republicans are demanding he go.
Few are as good on camera making the Democratic case than Rep. Anthony Weiner.
But since Republicans are so self-righteous; Democrats filled with self-loathing, who knows how this will end?"
Republicans get away with sex-related scandals much more easily than Democrats do. Moral of the story: if you’re going to screw around, be part of the GOP.
Yesterday Seventy-four House Democrats asked Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from any health care reform cases, citing reports that his wife financially benefited from efforts to repeal the legislation.
The members, led by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), ask that he “maintain the integrity of this court.”
There are several lawsuits challenging the health care reform law’s so-called individual mandate. Three cases are already docketed for oral arguments at the appellate court level. The Supreme Court is widely expected to take up the issue.
The signers of the letter include: Reps. Al Green, EB Johnson, Wm. Lacy Clay, Carnahan, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Karen Bass, Neal, Welch, Chu, Yarmuth, Sutton, Perlmutter, Connolly, Kucinich, Meeks, Schwartz, Doggett, Moore, Polis, Waters, Payne, Rush, Cohen, Crowley, Engel, Cicilline, Susan Davis, Sires, Doyle, Slaughter, McDermott, Velazquez, Garamendi, Carson, Capuano, Berkley, Wasserman Schultz, Tim Bishop, Barbara Lee, Courtney, DeLauro, Conyers, John Larson, George Miller, Boswell, Edwards, Capps, Becerra, Deutch, Israel, Owens, Richardson, Clarke, Hirono, Ackerman, Ellison, Grijalva, Chris Murphy, Woolsey, DeFazio, Jesse Jackson Jr, Reyes, Maloney, Andrews, Pascrell, Filner, Tonko, Fudge, Hinchey, Honda, Eshoo, Pallone, Stark
The move comes after Republicans have floated similar concerns about the impartiality of Justice Elena Kagan, who was solicitor general during the health debate.
Democrats cite that Thomas did not disclose his wife’s receipt of $686,589 from the Heritage Foundation between 2003 and 2006.
In response to Ginni Thomas’ involvement with groups trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, 74 Members of Congress signed a letter to Ginni’s husband — Justice Clarence Thomas — pointing out that his wife’s new job could haveethical consequences for him:
As an Associate Justice, you are entrusted with the responsibility to exercise the highest degree of discretion and impartiality when deciding a case. As Members of Congress, we were surprised by recent revelations of your financial ties to leading organizations dedicated to lobbying against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We write today to respectfully ask that you maintain the integrity of this court and recuse yourself from any deliberations on the constitutionality of this act.
(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
(b) He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances: …
(5) He or his spouse, or a person within the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person: . . .
(iii) Is known by the judge to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
It’s worth noting that conservatives have already interpreted this ethics law in a way that requires Justice Thomas to recuse himself from the health care litigation. After progressive Judge Stephen Reinhardt was assigned to the appellate panel that was to hear a challenge to anti-gay Proposition 8, supporters of the anti-gay law called for Reinhardt to recuse because his wife’s organizationadvocates against Prop 8.
The Honorable Justice Clarence Thomas United States Supreme Court Building 1 First Street Northeast Washington D.C., DC 20543 Dear Justice Thomas:
As an Associate Justice, you are entrusted with the responsibility to exercise the highest degree of discretion and impartiality when deciding a case. As Members of Congress, we were surprised by recent revelations of your financial ties to leading organizations dedicated to lobbying against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We write today to respectfully ask that you maintain the integrity of this court and recuse yourself from any deliberations on the constitutionality of this act.
The appearance of a conflict of interest merits recusal under federal law. From what we have already seen, the line between your impartiality and you and your wife's financial stake in the overturn of healthcare reform is blurred. Your spouse is advertising herself as a lobbyist who has “experience and connections” and appeals to clients who want a particular decision - they want to overturn health care reform. Moreover, your failure to disclose Ginny Thomas’s receipt of $686,589 from the Heritage Foundation, a prominent opponent of healthcare reform, between 2003 and 2007 has raised great concern.
This is not the first case where your impartiality was in question. As Common Cause points out, you “participated in secretive political strategy sessions, perhaps while the case was pending, with corporate leaders whose political aims were advanced by the [5-4] decision” on the Citizens United case. Your spouse also received an undisclosed salary paid for by undisclosed donors as CEO of Liberty Central, a 501(c)(4) organization that stood to benefit from the decision and played an active role in the 2010 elections.
Given these facts, there is a strong conflict between the Thomas household’s financial gain through your spouse’s activities and your role as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. We urge you to recuse yourself from this case. If the US Supreme Court's decision is to be viewed as legitimate by the American people, this is the only correct path. We appreciate your thoughtful consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
ANTHONY D. WEINER Member of Congress
We bid you a fine adieu Clarence on your opportunity to make your voice heard from your seat as a Associate Supreme Court Justice on this issue, and please feel free to take the radical tea bag wife with you, and always remember, "don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you"!
